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Hocus Pocus is my all-time favorite Halloween movie, so when I found out this book existed a few months ago I ordered it on Amazon immediately. It was inexpensive and it held great promise, even if I only ever used it as decoration on my bookshelf during the Halloween season. I’m a big reader though, and I was intrigued by the idea of a sequel to the story. So I lit my candles, put on my Boo to You! Halloween playlist, and dove in.
It was an easy and fun read—I ended up finishing it in just a few days even though it’s 500+ pages. Overall, I enjoyed it and I’m glad I read it. I’ve heard rumors of a Hocus Pocus 2 movie in the works, and I don’t know if it will be based on this sequel story or not. But just in case it is, I’m glad I read this. It was a good read, but there were some parts that fell short for me. Let’s get into it!
He’d been too chicken to catch her in the hallway, just the two of them, and tell her that he liked her and wanted to buy her ice cream, if she was okay with that idea. Instead, he’d escalated and escalated and now three undead witches had put Dani on a dinner menu.
Hocus pocus & the All-New Sequel, page 105
Part One
The book is split into two parts. The first part is pretty much the movie verbatim. Literally, all the dialogue was picked up almost word for word from the movie. And I LOVED IT. All my favorite lines were still there, and it was so nostalgic and fun to read one of my favorite movies in novel form. There’s a lot of great detail and a few additional scenes that fleshed out the characters more. And I loved getting into Max’s head to see his feelings about Allison (!), his relationship with Dani, and moving to Salem.
There’s one major thing that was added to the original story in Part One that I was very intrigued by. I thought it was a well-done addition and it has a great impact on the sequel, which I liked. (I won’t say exactly what it is because I don’t want to spoil it for anyone!)
Part Two
Maybe the thing I liked the least about this novel was the jarring change in point of view and verb tense. Part One is in third person and past tense. Part Two is in present tense and mostly first-person point of view told by Poppy, Max and Allison’s daughter. But sometimes it switches to third-person when the story needs to tell what the witches are doing when Poppy isn’t around. That really bothered me. I realize that I can be a little pickier about this than an average person because I’m a writer and editor professionally, but I think the whole thing would have been better if it had just stuck to third person.
I liked the sequel story—the characters were fun and the plot was intriguing. The writing is good and easy to read. And I loved getting to see Max, Allison, Dani, and even Jay as adults living in Salem. (You also get a bit of a glimpse of Binx and Emily as ghosts!) And the Sanderson sisters were very well-written and kept in the spirit of the original. The new characters were great too—Poppy and her friends Travis and Isabella, along with Jay’s daughter Katie. It has a much more diverse cast of characters than the original story, which I really enjoyed.
But the story fell flat for me in some of the details. The focus on new technology seemed really forced. And Winifred’s colorful insults started to get a little tedious after a while. The magic that the Sanderson sisters can do is expanded upon, but not in a way that is consistent. And the whole final scene really dragged for me.
A Note on Themes
I really love the sibling relationship theme that weaves through the original Hocus Pocus story. The parallel between Binx and Emily and Max and Dani really ties the movie together. Not to mention the Sandersons are sisters themselves! The contrast between the way the witches treat each other and the way Binx and Max look out for their little sisters is the backbone of the theme.
I didn’t get any of that from this sequel. If anything, it was a bit turned around. I don’t think that the themes need to be exactly the same—Poppy is an only child, so she doesn’t even have a sibling—but I would have enjoyed more of a focus on family in the sequel. Especially at the end.
My Rating
Overall, I give this book 3 out of 5 stars. If you’re a diehard Hocus Pocus fan like me, I think you’ll probably enjoy it! Maybe just don’t expect it to blow your socks off. 😄
Have you read it? Do you want to? Let me know in the comments below!
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